I have an 08 RoadGlide that is stock except for Bassani 2 into 1 RoadRage pipe, HD heavy Breather and SERT tuned by my local dealer.
Bike runs great (76hp 88tq) but I need a little more low end grunt (torque).
I will be doing a 103 build this comming winter with proper headwork, compression, and cams to match.
I am taking the exhaust off this weekend for some cleaning and other astetic changes.
I was thinking that while I have the exhaust off it would be easy to slap in a set of SE255 cams. I would not change the cam bearings (will do that this winter) just cut the pushrods, install the cams, and put adjustable pushrods back in.
I figure I can do it in a few hours and have a little extra grunt at the bottom until I do the motor right this winter.
The bike will see only about 5 to 6 k miles before the winter build.

So the question is can I get away with just changing the cams, not the bearings untill later or am I absolutely nuts to change the cams without the bearings for any amount of time?
Any other good cams for low end torque in a stock 96"?

Thanks for your time,

Doug

 

Just buy the bearings they are cheap.....

 

There are better cams then the 255s in the SE line up IMHO. The 203, 211, 253 are good examples of that.

 

I second that. My SE 203 Cams got me a noticeable amount of power at the bottom. Would be a better choice than the 255 for what you want, if more low end is it.

 

I'll vote for the SE211's and new bearings at the same time.

 

Do the SE211 if you never do the 103. If so wait and get the SE251 with the 103 build. If you go with the cometic .030 head gasket you could skip the push rods. Here is what mine looks like wuth Jackpot Mufflers and Stock Head pipes

 

I say to do it all at once. Just wait until you build the engine. Much easier that way.

 

How many miles does your bike currently have?

 

I don't think it would hurt, although in general I'm not comfortable with the stock INA's using a high-lift cam set like the 255's. My dealer swaps the inner bearings for every cam install, but uses INA's and claims they haven't had any problems. I believe them and haven't heard of problems, although I think most DIY and indy builders probably swap them with Timkins. Unlike the old Evo days where an inner-bearing change was mandatory for any cam swap because of the small 3/4" INA bearings used, the new bikes use 1" bearings that have more backbone. Early TC's use 3/4" INA's and I haven't heard of any problems with these either, but I can't see a reason not to swap with Timkins considering the small cost involved. All that said I don't think there would be any worry for a short-term mod like you're talking about. If you can find some used 255's you could probably sell them later and not incur any loss when you resell them, as used 255's are not uncommon on Ebay and usually bring $100-125. OTOH you may be happy enough with the improvement that you won't want to do any more mods, but that depends on your needs.

I don't know of any cam set for the TC96 that will provide the low-end grunt and good midrange muscle the 255's will on a stock TC96. All this talk of 203's and 211's beating the 255's for low-end grunt with a stock CR just isn't possible given the specs of these cams. As everyone knows the 255's won't win any peak-HP dyno shootouts, but for the application that the 255's fit best (heavy touring bikes) peak-HP is not the highest priority for most riders.

 

Not for low-end grunt in a stock TC96. Increasing CR, do headwork, increase displacement, etc. is another matter.